Thread: Question regarding Synthetic hones

I've got a Norton 4k/8k hone, and I've heard that people can get perfectly shave-able edges off these things. I've yet to pull that off, though I do get close enough to polish it out with either a small black Arkansas hand me down or my Guangxi hone. Here's the hone:



I've lapped the 8k flat with a Norton lapping stone (320 grit If I remember right). My question is does it need to be polished further or should simply lapping it do the trick? If so, to what degree? 600 grit? 1k? 2k?

haven't heard any thing good about the Norton lapping stone yet
I only lap with 320 grit Wet & Dry on a marble tile
use this for my Nani 1k the Norton 4/8k and the Nani 12k
I started with only the Norton 4/8k also & yes you can get very shave able edges with the 8k just takes a bit longer with very light pressure to get there

as a note others have shaved of a 1k with very light polishing so it is all in the skill level & learning curve

Either use wet dry sand paper or get a diamond plate for lapping. If you are going to use the Norton lapping hone you need to lap it first.

Look up gssixguns janorton YouTube video it will help you get a good shaveable edge from the 4/8k.

+1 on the gssixgun video. If I'm not mistaken (been a year or so since I watched the video) he finishes on the Norton 8K with very little water only and very light, barely toughing the hone strokes.

Originally Posted by jfk742

Either use wet dry sand paper or get a diamond plate for lapping. If you are going to use the Norton lapping hone you need to lap it first.

Look up gssixguns janorton YouTube video it will help you get a good shaveable edge from the 4/8k.

It never occurred to me that the lapping stone would need to be lapped itself before use. I guess that would explain why it feels rough like a chunk of concrete and leaves gouges like 80 grit sand paper. Guess I'll have to dig through the sand paper stash when I get a minute and go back to work on the Nortons.

Use sandpaper , other than the Norton lapping stone , and read up on the 8k experiment, those guys all shave off a 4/8 k Norton or equivalent , the old saying is if you can't get a good shave off of it your doing something wrong, everything above that is just polishing. Tc

That's my train of thought - I've got something out of whack somewhere. I know it isn't the tool, has to be something I'm doing or have done to it. I feel like if I can get the 4k/8k stages pinned down I'll have this honing thing pretty much licked.

Originally Posted by Marshal

I feel like if I can get the 4k/8k stages pinned down I'll have this honing thing pretty much licked.

Not to sound like a jerk or anything....
This made me smile....

I have used the Norton lapping plate mostly for rough lapping only. Its just a brick made of coarse SIC and will eat through most stones pretty quickly, mine happens to be reasonably flat but I always do the final lapping with a DMT which is flatter and leaves a smother finish. As far as the 4/8 Norton stones go, sure you can get a good shaving edge off them but to me this is just where shave ready begins and there is a whole lot of room for improvement. If Nortons did such a great job nobody would be sinking all that cash into the myriad of finishing stones both natural and synthetic out there. People don't just want a good shave they want a great shave so feel free to use your arks, c12 , crox or whatever you like to kick it up a notch. If you got it use it.

I feel the same as razorfaust about the 8k level of shave ready, but if you can get a good shave off the 8k it will make using a finisher later on down the road that much easier and more effective. I fought for a while with my naniwa 12k until I went back to the 8k and worked out some issues. The touch needed to make the 8k a comfortable close shave for me made my 12k seem like an entirely different hone when I went back to it.

After the 12k I use a crox pasted strop about 10 laps depending on the razor.